Houston Dynamo will look to make some history when they travel to Seattle for the opening round of the MLS Cup playoffs on Monday.

The Dynamo have never won at Lumen Field and were 0-13-3. That includes a 1-0 loss on Sept. 28, when the Sounders’ Paul Rothrock scored the only goal to help Seattle clinch a spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

The Dynamo, who set a franchise record for most points in the regular season (54), secured fifth place in the conference with a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Decision Day, October 19th the playoffs, with Daniel Steres scoring the winner in second-half stoppage time.

“These are the great evenings, these are the ones you remember,” said Dynamo coach Ben Olsen. “It was a playoff atmosphere; It was a great dress rehearsal for the playoffs because we are playing against a talented team.”

“We wanted to win this game but the other side needed to find some rhythm and form because it had been choppy over the last month. That was the most important thing for me. We had to get those minutes together before we went to Seattle.”

Ibrahim Aliyu is Houston’s leading scorer with six goals and five assists. Midfielder Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla, the 2023-24 CONCACAF Player of the Year, contributed three goals and seven assists.

Designated player Ezequiel Ponce has scored five goals in 10 games since arriving in the summer. The Dynamo allowed just 39 goals this season, second in the West behind Seattle’s 35.

The fourth-seeded Sounders went 12-2-3 in the second half of the season after getting off to the worst start in club history with just one win in their first nine games.

Jordan Morris led the Sounders with 13 goals, with midfielder Albert Rusnak contributing 10 goals and setting a franchise record with 16 assists. Jackson Ragen is one of three finalists for MLS Defender of the Year.

The Sounders have won two MLS Cup titles (2016 and 2019) and one CONCACAF Champions Cup (2022) under coach Brian Schmetzer, who signed a multi-year contract extension last week.

“There are no easy games in the playoffs, so we’re looking forward to the challenge,” Sounders defenseman Alex Roldan said. “I know in recent years our record in the playoffs alone has been really good and so we want to continue that and hopefully beat some tough opponents.”

–Field level media